After spending the night in the cold after their cart got stuck due to a glitch, the pair were able to climb down a long rope dropped to them by helicopter and were picked up by boats waiting for them in the fjord.

"They're fine and in good spirits," a spokesman for the SFE electricity company Asgeir Aase said.

"They were cold but they said it was an experience and that it was good to be back on solid ground," he added.

The men spent a total of "between 26 and 27 hours" stuck in their cart about a kilometre from land, above the Norfjord on Norway's south-western coast.

Several attempts to rescue the pair by helicopter had failed because of poor weather in the area.